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Ships
Ships are the central feature of Elite Dangerous, and are used to traverse space and perform a variety of different tasks. There are a variety of designs to suit various roles. Many ships were inspired by the classic wireframe and polygonal models of previous Elite games. Each ship has access to a range of different modules which they can fit to help specialize as traders, smugglers, bounty hunters, pirates, etc. All ships have been designed with the ship interiors in mind and for future gameplay opportunities. Currently, there are 36 playable ships and 6 playable fighters, each built by one of several manufacturers with their own unique styles. Initially, there was a planned total of 30 playable ships with multiple variants in addition to some non-playable ships. All commanders begin the game with a Sidewinder MkI. The player may upgrade components or purchase an entirely new ship based upon their needs and available funds. New ships can only be purchased at Stations; Shipyard service and modules can only be changed or upgraded at stations with the Outfitting service. People can join other ships as a hologram with multicrew. Nearly all ships and stations are standard fitted with the GalNet system for market information, galactic news and communication.Newsletter #22 http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=f72c0f91b2Tourist Beacon 0249 Available Ships All ships available to players are organized below by manufacturer and size. Some ships require attaining a specific rank with the Federal or Imperial navies before they can be purchased. Ship-Launched Fighters can only be deployed from Fighter Hangars equipped on suitable ships. Specifications Base Ship= Default ship specifications as equipped when purchased. Sidewinder can be obtained for free. |-|Trading Ship= A-Class Frame Shift Drive, Thrusters and Power Distributor and lowest mass on everything else except Fuel Tank. All Internal Compartments are Cargo Racks. Power Plant is the lightest available with sufficient power. |-|Explorer Ship= A-Class Frame Shift Drive and lowest mass on everything else except Fuel Tank. Internal Compartments contain biggest size A-Class Fuel Scoop, Advanced Discovery Scanner and Detailed Surface Scanner. Power Plant is the lightest available with sufficient power. |-|A-Class Ship= A-Class everything, Bulkheads as Reactive Surface Composite which is the most expensive part of a ship. Hardpoints, utility mounts and internal compartments empty except Shield Generator which is highest possible size. Outfitting External= External Hardpoints and Utility Mounts. |-|Core Internal= Core Internal Compartments. |-|Optional Internal= Optional Internal Compartments. Upcoming Ships Confirmed Ships listed below have been officially confirmed as being in-development or planned for Elite Dangerous. *Fleet Carrier (Elite Dangerous: Beyond Q4 2018) *Panther Clipper (TBA) Leaked Ships listed below have not been officially confirmed, but references have been found on official storefronts or similar sources. *Krait Phantom Ship Roles Multipurpose Multipurpose ships are a jack-of-all-trades in that they can easily be fitted for whatever role the player needs; whether it be hauling cargo, ship-to-ship combat, or exploring the stars, multipurpose ships can do it all. Multipurpose ships usually can do most jobs just as well if not better than comparable ships targeted towards those jobs. Combat Combat ships are usually faster, more agile and more heavily armed than other ships of the same size. The exception to this would be gun boats, which have more weapon mounts designed for turrets, but sacrifice their agility for them. Freighter Freighters are typically slow, cumbersome and lightly armed, but provide extreme hauling capabilities. Useful for traders and smugglers alike. Explorer Exploration ships typically come with large default jump ranges, large Fuel Tanks for ships of their size, and should be fitted with lots of low class Internal Compartments for scanners to optimize jump distance. These ships are designed to be able to equip the multitude of scanning equipment needed for an expedition, then fly long distances into the void without the need for regular refuelling through the use of Fuel Scoops. Passenger Couriers who fly passengers and valuable items with small storage requirements have a special class of ships available to them. These ships are elegant and fast, designed to quickly and comfortably get from one system to the next. You can think of them as giant space-limousines. NPC-only Ship Types Capital Ships There are currently two types of Capital Ships in-game: the Federation's Farragut Battle Cruiser and the Empire's Majestic Class Interdictor. Both vessels are Battlecruisers. They are heavily armed, can launch several fighter squadrons, and are piloted by NPCs. However, Frontier said in their roadmap that they intend to add the "availability of giant ‘executive control’ ships to players" in a future content update.Newsletter #29 In The Commanders Livestream, a viewer asked "any chance of playing capital ships in the future?", David Braben answered: "it's on the list, but a long way down it, because there's a lot of gameplay to make it work. The issue is what we call the difference between direct control and executive control. Where rather than flying by the seat of your pants you're giving orders to a giant ship. Because you can't expect it to change course very rapidly and that sort of thing. So it's certainly a long-term possibility, but it's long-term."Elite Dangerous 2.3 - The Commanders Release Livestream Megaships A Megaship is a class of massive ships that travel through the galaxy, and are utilized in a wide variety of roles.Frontier Developments Forums - 2.3 The Commanders Beta - Changelog Comparable in size to most stations, and in some cases much longer, a number of megaships are also equipped with docking facilities for small, medium, and large vessels. All services normally available at stations are on offer, with the exception of the Shipyard. Currently only NPCs can control Megaships. There are various types of Megaships: *Bulk Cruiser **Asteroid Miner **Agricultural Vessel **Bulk Cargo Ship **Dredger **Prison Ship **Science Vessel **Survey Vessel **Tanker **Tourist Ship *Flight Operations Carrier **Wells-class CarrierGalactic News: Zeus Bureau Appeal Concludes *Generation Ship Thargoid Ships The Thargoids are known to have at least three ship types in their arsenal: Thargoid Scouts, Thargoid Interceptors, and Thargoid Motherships. Of these, both Scouts and Interceptors have been encountered thus far, whilst old logs retrieved from the Intergalactic Naval Reserve Arm's Carmichael Point base attest to the existence of Motherships. Thargoid vessels employ radically different technologies from human ships, among them the ability to interdict ships during hyperspace transit and to make hyperspace jumps without leaving an identifiable wake signature. Their powerful offensive and defensive capabilities also make them deadly opponents in combat. Development Notes: Fleet Hierarchy The fleet-class ships that are available to the game’s major factions follow a hierarchy.Newsletter #7 Cruisers (Battlecruisers, Battleships, Interdictors) Long range, independent ships that are capable of controlling entire systems. Heavily armed and capable of deploying large fighter squadrons. The capital ships already shown are an example of this class. In the Empire they are usually known as “Interdictors” – named after the first successful class of cruisers. Currently the most common and most successful Imperial Cruiser is the Majestic class – generally referred to as a “Majestic class Interdictor”. As ships that can also carry out ambassadorial missions they can be used for ‘soft’ power projection, as well as hard, the same goes for the Federation's most common and successful Cruiser, named the Farragut Battle Cruiser. Frigates These are large ships designed for escort duties. The actual vessels vary greatly between navies, but are all designed to engage multiple small, fast enemies (typically fighters and missile swarms) and are loaded with point defence batteries. They will also have some anti-ship capability, but are not designed to go up against other warships. Destroyers These are anti-warship vessels, but are generally no longer used in the front line, though some are still in service. Carriers Carriers are designed for the deployment of fighter squadrons. Obsolete in the fleets of the major factions due to the popularity of Cruisers, but small navies still make use of them and some have even been converted into transporters. Transporters (Couriers) Armoured warships designed specifically for transporting valuable assets and cargo quickly and safely. Corvettes (Cutters) Light multi-role warships, capable of reconnaissance, incursions and escort missions. These small warships are also popular with smaller factions, organizations and even wealthy individuals due to their adaptability. The Federal Corvette is a slower Corvette-class Ship with more maneuverability and firepower, while The Imperial Cutter is a lighter and faster Corvette-class ship, players will be able to get their hands on these ships in the game (assuming they can make the right contacts). Fighters Small short-range craft that generally cannot operate independently due to having no jump capability. Their main roles include the defence of stations and the large warships that they are deployed from. Commercial fighters are typically jump-capable and are therefore much more flexible than their faction-specific counterparts. Drones Small automated ships that have largely been phased out due to the existence of effective counter-measures. The closest setting-modern analogue would be Limpets, which are used almost purely for logistical/support tasks such as field repairs rather than direct combat, though some can be used for sabotage. Ship Scale Videos File:Elite_ship_scale_3.0 Gallery Elite-Dangerous_Ship_Chart_V3_0.jpg|ED Ship Chart v3.0 elite-ships9.jpg|Ship Size Comparison ship-size-comparison.jpg|Ship size comparison for 2.2 Elite-Ships-Group.png|Group of ships FDL vs Boeing 747-400.jpg|FDL vs Boeing 747-400 Station with Boeing 747 and Courier.jpg|Station docking with a Boeing 747 and Imperial Courier Elite-Dangerous-Ships-and-Boeing-747-123.png|Elite Dangerous Ships and Boeing 747-123 Elite-Dangerous-Ships-and-Aircraft-Carrier.png|Elite Dangerous Ships and Aircraft Carrier Type-9-Heavy-Walking-Pilot-Scale.png|Type-9 Heavy walking pilot scale Cobra-Walking-Pilot-Scale.png|Cobra walking pilot scale Anaconda-Walking-Pilot-Scale.png|Anaconda walking pilot scale Viper-Walking-Pilot-Scale.png|Viper walking pilot scale Asp-Explorer-Horses-Scale.png|Asp Explorer and horses scale Corvette-Farragut-Scale.jpg|Corvette and Farragut scale Elite-Dangerous-Megaship-Scale-New-York.png|Megaship in New York scale Majestic-Class-Interdictor-Ship-Scale-Dubai.png|Majestic Class Interdictor ship scale Dubai References